


Fear of Heights

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-29 14:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19831903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: Something is worrying Simon... and he calls on Blair for advice.





	Fear of Heights

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sentinel Thursday prompt 'hangover'

Fear of Heights

by Bluewolf

There was a worried look on Simon's face as he walked into the bullpen on Monday morning, and crossed to his office.

Or no, Blair decided; concerned rather than worried. But something was definitely bothering the man.

Blair hesitated; should he follow Simon into his office, and ask what the problem was? Or was it something work-related, political and none of his business?

Beside Blair, Jim was frowning. "Wonder what's worrying Simon?"

Blair glanced around. All of the detectives in the room had clearly noticed that something was wrong - but then, of course, they were detectives, and wouldn't deserve the name if they had failed to see -

"Sandburg!"

Jim and Blair glanced at each other. Just 'Sandburg'? Not 'Ellison!' as well? It couldn't be something unexpected that had surfaced to bite their asses after TPTB had agreed that Blair should attend the Police Academy a few months earlier - could it?

Blair shrugged as he stood. "Our master calls - I'd better answer."

He walked briskly over to Simon's door and went in - called as he had been, knocking wasn't needed.

"Sit down," Simon said quietly. "Coffee?" Although he asked, he was already pouring a mug for Blair as well as himself.

"Thanks." And he waited.

"I was wondering... " Simon hesitated. "Blair, you're afraid of heights, aren't you?"

"It depends on circumstances," Blair admitted. "I'm not happy with heights; I fell out of a neighbor's tree when I was six or so - broke my arm. It made me wary rather than actually afraid - but in general people understand 'fear' of heights more easily than 'wary' of heights, so it's simpler to say I'm afraid."

"All right, but you understand being nervous of heights. Could you give me some advice on dealing with a fear of heights?"

"You aren't - ?"

"Not me, Daryl."

"Daryl?" They didn't see the teenager very often; his mother had custody, and she had moved away from Cascade four years previously. Simon didn't see him more than two or three times a year.

"He was with me at the weekend, and that was when I learned... he's terrified of heights - and he admitted his mother isn't very sympathetic, tells him it's just imagination. But I saw for myself - he's definitely terrified! He couldn't tell me why... "

"Kincaid!" Blair said.

Simon looked slightly puzzled.

"You know I wasn't actually there to see it, but Jim told me - Kincaid threatened to drop Daryl from the window of Major Crime."

The expression on Simon's face showed how traumatic the memory was for him.

"The fear of heights has to be a hangover from then," Blair went on, "even if Daryl doesn't actively remember - it's the kind of thing the mind can block from active memory in sheer self-defence.

"We can remind him of the incident, but... Does his mother know about it?"

"No - he didn't want her to know. He told me at the time that if she knew, she'd try to get my access to him totally stopped on the grounds that my work as a cop was endangering him."

"So he probably put it out of his conscious mind in case he accidentally said something to make her realize the danger he'd been in," Blair said thoughtfully. "But reminding him... he's older now, and better able to keep something from her. But in any case, he's what - over eighteen now?"

"Yes," Simon agreed.

"So he's a free agent; if he wants to stay with a parent he can, but he can choose which one. Your ex-wife might think she has custody till he's twenty-one, may even have told him that, but it's actually eighteen. You don't have to pay child support now, do you?"

"No... "

"So you've nothing to worry about. Even if he continues to live with his mother, it's now up to Daryl if and when he wants to see you, and I'd suggest getting your lawyer to contact your ex-wife's lawyer to make sure he knows that. And the next time you see him - you can remind him about that incident with Kincaid. If he knows why he's scared of heights it'll help him handle the fear."

"You really think so?" Simon sounded hopeful.

"Remembering about Mrs. Danbush's tree has kept me from being paralyzed with the fear of heights. As long as everything is solid under me I'm not too bad - I fell because a branch broke under my weight - it had to have been totally rotten, considering how small I was. If Daryl remembers that he nearly fell because Kincaid's men were going to drop him he should stop worrying too much about heights, at least if there's nobody unfriendly around."

Simon took a deep breath. "Thanks, Blair. Can I ask you to have a word with him about it, next time he's here?"

"Yes, of course."

The last of his coffee was cold, but he swallowed it, grinned at Simon, and went back out to rejoin his partner.


End file.
